Never Alone
by LaylaBinx
Summary: It wasn't an unusual dream, especially nowadays. The dream of being chased but you can never run fast enough to escape the impending horde behind you. Columbus was pretty damn sick of the dream. No pairings, just friendship :D


**Just a fluffy one-shot I wanted to try. Hope you guys like it!! :D**

**I own nothing!!**

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It wasn't an unusual dream, especially nowadays. The dream of being chased but you can never run fast enough to escape the impending horde behind you. It seemed to happen a lot more recently, for whatever reason. It may have been due to the incident at Pacific Playland or any of the other times he'd been chased around parking lots, down highways, or through abandoned grocery stores. One thing was for sure though, Columbus was pretty damn sick of the dream.

This one was just like all the others. He was alone, in the middle of some God-forsaken town, and they were everywhere. At first they didn't see him, they were too busy ransacking buildings and cars, looking for anyone who happened to still have a pulse. And then it was like the light was turned on and he was in the center of it. They all saw him at once, dead eyes narrowing at the new target. There were hundreds, maybe thousands in every direction, and he was completely defenseless. Sometimes he had a shotgun in his dreams, sometimes it was a chainsaw, or some other weapon. Tonight it was nothing. Nothing but the clothes on his back and the adrenaline racing through his veins. He looked for an opening, anyway out he could find. There was no place to go, the zombies had him completely cornered.

The thing about zombies was, while they're not particularly fast or bright, they do know how to hunt in packs and that's what this was. It was little more than a pack or hungry, cannibalistic wolves. The first one made a flying lunge at him, tripping over a shattered ankle. Another ran at him, hands outstretched and grabbing. He fell back, tumbling over the fallen zombie and landing hard on his hip. And then they were all on him, tearing, ripping, biting through flesh and bone. Columbus screamed and struggled and fought but it was useless. He had become walking lunch meat.

Columbus sat up suddenly, a sharp intake of breath accompanying the movement. His heart was racing, breathing coming out in short, ragged gasps. A terrifying second of confusion assaulted him as he looked around the darkened room, his mind reeling and trying to remember where the hell he was.

"Easy there, tiger." A southern voice drawled from a few feet away, the owner hidden in the darkness. "Nothin's gunna getcha."

The confusion passed and Columbus could breathe a little easier. "Tallahassee?" He asked, unable to keep the shakiness out of his voice.

"Yeah." The older man said, flicking on a lamp next to the bed. They were in a house, one of the many they'd broken into and stayed in over the past few days. He and Tallahassee had camped out in a guest room, two single beds pressed up against either wall. The opposite bed looked like it hadn't been touched. It was still dark outside, the table-side clock reading out 3:27am. "Now keep it down, you'll wake the girls."

Columbus fell back onto the bed, covering his eyes with his hands. Wichita and Little rock were in the room across the hall, sleeping soundly and completely oblivious to his night terrors. The house was as locked down as possible, the doors and windows blocked and barricaded with chairs and boards and anything else they could find. They were safe, at least for now. He struggled to take a deep breath, convince himself the dream was just that, a dream.

Tallahassee looked over from whatever he was doing, eyes narrowing slightly from beneath his trademark cowboy hat. "You okay?"

"Uh...y-yeah..." Columbus said after a second, swallowing hard to force the bile back down his throat.

"Bullshit."

He ignored it and propped himself up on his elbows. "What are you doing up?"

Tallahassee shrugged half-hearted and leaned back in the chair he was sitting in. "Couldn't with you tossin' and turnin' all night." He smirked, his attempt at humor falling short. When the younger man failed to respond he sighed and stood, walking over to the bed and falling onto the foot of it. "What was the dream about?" He asked, irritated with himself for actually being concerned.

Columbus shook his head. "It's nothing."

"Once again: bullshit."

The younger man shook his head again and looked down at the blankets he'd become tangled in during his nightmare. His skin felt damp thanks to the layer of sweat he'd broken into and he shivered unconsciously. "Just a nightmare."

"Well I know that genius. What was it about? And don't tell me 'nothin'' again unless you want to loose some teeth." Even the false threat seemed lighter.

There was a brief silence, nothing but the sound of both men breathing filling the room. The strange thing about Zombieland was the uneasy silence in even the largest cities. Hell, Los Angeles had been like a ghost town and its one of the largest in this part of the country.

"I was alone..." Columbus said finally, never taking his eyes off the bed. "I was alone and there were zombies everywhere. I didn't have a weapon..." He swallowed again to fight back the tremble in his voice. He finally looked up but not at Tallahassee, at the ceiling. Tears prickled his eyes but he refused to let them fall. "Do you ever think this is all pointless?" He asked to no one in particular, eyes searching the plaster above him.

"All of what?" The older man asked, frowning slightly in confusion.

"Everything." Columbus said, hand absently indicating the boarded up window beside the bed. "Us driving around all the time, fighting all these things when they outnumber us a couple thousand to one? I mean, what's the point? They're going to win eventually..."

A sharp punch to the shoulder brought him back to the present. Tallahassee was glaring at him, blue eyes dark. "That's enough. I get that you're scared and feel like things are hopeless but now is not the time to be losin' it. Because once you give up, its all over. You're pretty much servin' yourself up on a silver platter."

"But what are we supposed to do, huh?!" Columbus nearly shouted, keeping his voice controlled just enough to prevent waking the girls. It was the first time since the plague had wiped out nearly everyone he knew that he allowed himself to freak out. He felt it was pretty justified. "Tallahassee, its going to happen. Maybe not now, maybe not tomorrow, but eventually we're going to get to a point where we're outnumbered and our luck is going to run out." He shook his head, running his fingers through his dark hair. He sighed and kept his eyes closed for a second, waving a hand dismissively. "I'm sorry...I just..." He shook his head again. "I don't know. I'm sorry..."

Tallahassee watched him for a second, trying to find the words to calm the panicky young man. "You know, right after my son died I felt the same way you do." He said quietly, staring at the opposite wall. "I felt like I had lost everything, that boy meant the world to me. I thought about givin' up and just lettin' them take me too but then I figured Buck wouldn't ever get the justice he deserved. That's what got me through; knowin' that I could kick some major zombie ass and avenge my son." He looked back to the younger man. "The point is you can't give up when things look tough. You gotta keep goin' for all those who can't. Its the only thing we have left."

Columbus was silent for a second, letting the words sink in.

"And kid, as long as I'm around you don't have to ever worry about bein' alone."

The younger man looked up. "Really?"

There was a humorless chuckle. "Well where the hell else am I goin' to go?" The pleading look on Columbus's face made the smile fade. Tallahassee nodded slightly, not looking at him. When the hell had he become so attached to these kids? "Really."

For some reason that was all it took to appease the younger man. Columbus seemed to visibly relax, a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding releasing slowly. "Sorry I kept you up..." He apologized weakly, trying to make up for his earlier outburst.

"S'fine." Tallahassee mumbled, standing slowly and walking over to pat him on the shoulder. "Go back to sleep, kid. I'll be here in the morning." And with that he turned off the lamp and the room fell into darkness again. For the firs time in nearly three months, Columbus fell asleep and dreamed of nothing.

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**So was it okay?? I just really like the idea of Tallahassee watching the door while the others sleep, its really cute to me :D**


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